Book Review: The Sandcastle Sister

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Sandcastle SisterThe Sandcastle Sister by Lisa Wingate is a novella sequel to The Story Keeper, and both are part of the Carolina Chronicles series.

In The Story Keeper, Jen Gibbs had escaped an almost cultish group in the Appalachian hills of NC to go to college and then work in publishing. An old unsigned manuscript led her back to her roots, to a reclusive author, and to a discovery of a people called the Melungeons.

In this book. the reclusive author, Evan Hall, writes a bestseller about the Melungeons and Jen serves as his editor. They develop a relationship, and when the book comes out, Evan insists that Jen accompany him on the book tour, which takes them across Europe. When he wants to tie the knot in Paris, Jen pulls away. An urgent situation with her sister brings her back to the States.

Her youngest sister, Lily, had come out from the same group that Jen had, but without burning her bridges. She wants to become a pharmacist and go back to man the only pharmacy in the area she comes from. But along the way she researches her family history, trying to find out whatever became of the mother who left the family years ago, and discovers a half-sister that no one in the family knew of. Lily is determined to look up this sister, and Jen decides to accompany Lily for her safety and protection. They end up in the Outer Banks of NC (the setting for the first book in the series, The Prayer Box), and come across some of its characters. While searching, Jen wrestles with her reasons for hesitating to marry Evan and wonders if she can overcome them. But what they find in the Outer Banks changes their lives in many ways.

I enjoyed this little book. It was fun to see what became of the characters from The Story Keeper and to see the tie-ins with the other books. The faith element is not quite as obvious in this one, but it’s there. I actually ended up reading the last book in the series out of order before this one, so I’ll discuss it tomorrow.

(Sharing with Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books, Literary Musing Monday, Carole’s Books You Loved)

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A Stirred-up Woman

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I keep a section in my “notes” app on my phone for jotting down things that strike me that I want to look into further, either for my own study or perhaps to develop into a blog post. In deleting some old notes recently, I came across a notation that said “The danger of a stirred-up woman: Acts 13:50.” In the KJV this passage says: “But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.” Some other translations use the word “stirred”; some say “incited.” In this chapter, Paul and Barnabas had come to Antioch and shared the gospel, and many believed. “But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him,” verse 45 (ESV), and then by verse 50 they stirred up others to expel the preachers.

I know the passage refers to men as well, but it struck me both as a woman reader and as someone who has seen the results of a stirred-up woman both in others and in myself.

I looked up the Greek word translated as “stirred” or “Incited” in this verse and found it is only used here. So I looked up other verses using the English word “stir.” An interesting study! One can be stirred up in a bad way (all ESV unless otherwise noted):

All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil. They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life. (Psalm 56:5-6).

Deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men. For behold, they lie in wait for my life; fierce men stir up strife against me. For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord, for no fault of mine, they run and make ready. (Psalm 59:2-3)

Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men, who plan evil things in their heart and stir up wars continually. (Psalm 140:1-2).

Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. (Proverbs 10:12).

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1).

A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention. (Proverbs 17:18).

A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched. (Proverbs 28:25).

A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression. (Proverbs 29:22).

And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him [Jesus] and seized him and brought him before the council (Acts 6:12).

 Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. (Acts 21:30-31). (There are several passages in Acts about people being stirred up after the apostles preached.)

As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned. (Titus 3:10-11).

…Or in a good way:

And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord‘s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. (Exodus 35:21).

And every skillful woman spun with her hands, and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.  All the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats’ hair [for the tabernacle] (Exodus 35:25-26).

And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work. (Exodus 36:2).

Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. (Ezra 1:5).

 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25).

Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. (2 Timothy 1:6, KJV).

Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities [in verses 3-11], though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder…(2 Peter 1:13).

This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,  that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. (2 Peter 3:1-2).

Furthermore, “stirring” can be done by God, by ourselves, by other people, and by situations.

Sometimes we need stirring. Hosea speaks of sinful people “like a heated oven
whose baker ceases to stir the fire” (7:4b). But sometimes we’re stirred up to the point of getting out of hand, and sadly, it’s usually the negative kind of stirring that does this the quickest.

So when i feel “stirred up,” I need to ask myself:

  • What is stirring me up? Is this from God, from myself, from others?
  • What emotions are stirred up? Anger, spite, selfishness, jealousy? Or love and compassion?
  • Am I being stirred up to a mindless, destructive frenzy or to purposeful usefuless?
  • What am I stirred up to do? Lash out? Exact vengeance? Harm? Put someone in their place? Use my gifts to help others? Serve? Love?

My initial thought of “the danger of a stirred-up woman” is only partially accurate. After this study, I’d instead refer to “the power of a stirred-up woman,” for evil or for good. Self examination in the light of God’s Word will help me understand whether that stirring is something I need to yield to or to confess and repent of.

(Sharing with Inspire Me Monday, Literary Musing Monday, Glimpses, Soul Survival, Wise Woman, Tell His Story, Porch Stories, Coffee For Your Heart, Faith on Fire)

Friday’s Fave Five

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FFF fall backgroundIt’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

Well, we’re more than halfway through October already – more like 2/3 of the way! Here are some favorite parts of the last week:

1. Lunch with my aunt and uncle who live across town. We’ve been keeping in touch via email and trying to make plans to get together. They’re very busy and travel a lot. But it finally worked out last week. I always love time with them.

2. “Punkin time!” as Timothy called it, getting together to decorate pumpkins. I wrote more about it yesterday.

A bonus with this one was having apple cider. I don’t have it often – usually just at our pumpkin-decorating time plus sometimes if an outdoor festival is serving it. But at those times it really hits the spot.

3. Timothy’s first “Boo in the Zoo.” The event itself was a disappointment in some ways (the animals weren’t out! I thought seeing them was the main point of having this at the zoo. Plus different areas had very loud raucous music going on, not something kids who are already ramped-up need. Mittu said that everyone coming out of one area like that was agitated, parents and kids alike.) But it was fun to see the kids in costumes and to see Timothy’s reaction.

4. Ticking things off the to-do list, especially after feeling like I wasn’t getting anything accomplished last week.

5. Hearing from a couple of long-time blog friends after an extended blog absence – within a couple of days from each other.

Our cool fall weather is back, and that’s a delight as well.

Happy Friday!

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“Punkin Time!”

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When Timothy saw my fall decorations out, after he had squeezed or thumped all the pumpkins, he asked if it was “punkin time.” I was surprised he remembered decorating pumpkins – he’s only 3. But we hadn’t made plans for it yet and had to explain for about a week or so that we didn’t have pumpkins. Finally last Saturday we did!

Last year Jim arranged the pumpkins out in the bushes in a little “pumpkin patch” for Timothy to find, and then they put them in the wagon to bring to the house, so he did that again this year. We were eating pizza and forgot about it getting dark earlier this time of year, so it was right at dusk when we went out. But Timothy enjoyed using his little flashlight to find the “punkins.”

So we brought them inside and got to work:

The yucky part!

Timothy painted his, because of course he’s too young to handle a blade. Mittu has painted hers the last couple of years so Timothy wasn’t the only one painting. I like the designs of the carved pumpkins and the light shining through them – but I am not very good at it. The last couple I’ve done didn’t come out as I had planned and had to be fixed in some way – last year Jim held it together with toothpicks for me. So I decided to paint this year, too. It’s much easier and faster! And the painted pumpkins last longer than the carved ones. But I do still miss the carved design. I was going to paint one based on an emoji, but discovered my yellow paint was too dried up to use, so I opted for another design I’d seen that is supposed to look like Nemo.

Mittu painted one side of hers like this…

…and the other like this.

Jim chose Trump (in previous years he has done Barack and Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton). He didn’t like how it turned out, but the rest of us thought it was a good resemblance. Jason made his own template from a photo he had taken of Timothy. I thought it turned out really well!

We had an extra pumpkin because Jesse didn’t want to do one, so when I had a chance to get some more yellow paint, I tried my original idea:

I’m thankful my daughter-in-law suggested starting this tradition a few years ago. Neither my husband nor I grew up with it, so we never even thought about doing it when our kids were little. Plus I was concerned about all the evil origins of everything then, but decided in more recent years that these kinds of things aren’t generally associated with anything evil in this time and in this country.

It made for a fun evening! Best of all was when Timothy cuddled up to me later in the evening and said, “I like punkin time!”

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Book Review: Me, Myself, and Bob

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Our family was never hugely into Veggie Tales, but we saw and enjoyed enough of them to be able to sing along with the theme song, “Where Is My Hairbrush,” “Barbara Manatee,” and others. I wasn’t too crazy about their adaptations of Bible stories: I didn’t think building a silly plot around them served them well. But I enjoyed the stories that dealt with life issues that kids face, like being afraid of the dark. I was sad to see the decline of the company, Big Idea. Some years ago I read an interview with Veggie Tales creator, Phil Vischer, about what had happened, which motivated me to get his book, Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables,when I saw it on sale for the Kindle.

Me Myself and BobPhil goes into his background as a shy, nerdy kid with a quirky sense of humor and interests in filming and computers which dovetailed when computer animation began to be possible. Watching MTV videos, he was enthralled with the filming but appalled at the morals (or lack of them) in many of the videos. Years later in a media conference he heard a Viacom chairman share “how he intended to hook kids with Blue’s Clues, then lead them through Nickelodeon straight to MTV.” Phil wanted to make films that God could use. “I knew God wanted me to tell stories that promoted biblical values, and I wanted to do that through any available means.”

He dropped out of college, married, worked for a computer animation company, and experimented in his spare time. I didn’t always quite follow some of the few technical parts, but I got enough to know that, with the animation equipment and software at the time, he needed characters without arms, legs, or hair. He started with a candy bar until his wife commented that moms probably wouldn’t appreciate a candy bar being the hero of the stories, so he switched to vegetables. His wife (the voice of Junior Asparagus!) and a few friends joined him in working on the idea, and eventually Veggie Tales was born. The whole process of how it came to be and then grew is pretty fascinating. Fun fact: they were aiming for moms who bought videos for their kids, but the only marketing that was done was a cardboard cutout in bookstores, which didn’t seem to draw much interest. Veggie Tales was launched into the public eye by young adults and college students working in Christian bookstores who got bored with the same videos playing on display, popped Veggie Tales in, loved it, and recommended it.

Once Veggie Tales caught on, they experienced a meteoric rise in popularity and the company grew exponentially (becoming at one point “the best-selling Christian videos series in history, and the number two kids’ videos series in the world at that time, trailing only Pokemon”), but that turned out to be its downfall. Enthusiastic hiring, too much and too quickly, drove expenses up far beyond income. A lack of vetting allowed new employees who weren’t on the same page, even among the upper management, creating dissension within. Some of the experts they brought in specialized in packaged goods, which seemed plausible since Veggie Tales was sold as videos, but no one had experience in the entertainment industry. The company landed in bankruptcy, the final nail in the coffin being a lawsuit involving an unsigned contract (unsigned yet precisely because they had not yet come to mutually agreeable terms), which, inexplicably, was ruled in favor of the other company. The ruling was eventually overturned, but by that time the company had been sold. I had been dismayed to see Veggie Tales on network TV without its Biblical underpinning, but Phil explains that by that time, the company was in other hands. He was asked to stay on to provide voices and some help with animation, and was led to believe that the program would be the same, minus a specific Bible verse, but eventually learned that no religious content would be allowed.

As Bob the tomato so often wrapped up a Veggie Tales video discussing what we’ve learned today, Phil’s last few chapters discuss handling the crushing death of a dream, a dream that seemed to have been given by God and was being used by Him. Why didn’t He “rescue” Veggie Tales? While we don’t know the exact answer to that, one thing Phil learned was the difference between driving oneself for God and being led by Him. Though the whole book is fascinating, this is where the gold is.

Rather than asking God directly, I spent a lot of time thinking about what my work for Christ might be. Missionary conferences pitched mission fields at us kids like travel agents pitching vacation packages. Watch the slides—make a commitment. But overseas missions didn’t seem right for me, so I kept looking. Eventually, I found a place where my storytelling gifts seemed to line up with a need that was tugging at my heart–a need to express God’s Word through popular media. And that would be my work for Christ!

“If God gives you a dream, and the dream comes to life and God shows up in it, and then the dream dies, it may be that God wants to see what is more important to you–the dream or him.”

Rather than finding my identity in my relationship with God, I was finding it in my drive to do “good work.” The more I dove into Scripture, the more I realized that I had been deluded. I had grown up drinking a dangerous cocktail–a mix of the gospel, the Protestant work ethic, and the American dream.

I started to get it. The Christian life wasn’t about running like a maniac; it was about walking with God. It wasn’t about impact; it was about obedience.

What is “walking with God?” Simple. Doing what he asks you to do each and every day. Living in active relationship with him. Filling your mind with his Word, and letting that Word penetrate every waking moment.

The God who created the universe is enough for us–even without our dreams…God was enough for the martyrs facing lions and fire–even when the lions and the fire won. And God is enough for you.

The impact God has planned for us doesn’t occur when we’re pursuing impact. It occurs when we’re pursuing God.

I very much enjoyed Phil’s story, the behind-the-scenes look into how Veggie Tales came to be, learning what happened to it and to Phil, and what God taught him through the whole process.

(Sharing with Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books, Literary Musing Monday, Carole’s Books You Loved)

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Reading the Bible Literally

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Some years ago I read something scoffing at Christians for taking the Bible literally. One example the author used was the Bible’s speaking of the sun rising and setting, because of course we know that the Earth revolves around the sun: the sun itself doesn’t rise and set. Yet meteorologists use the terms sunrise and sunset every day. We understand in the English language what those terms mean while not taking them literally.

Taking the Bible literally means we don’t interpret it as myth or stories, even though it contains a few stories in it. But we understand the Bible uses different expressions of literature which are not strictly literal without detracting from an overall literal approach to the Bible. What are some of these literary devices?

Idioms. Terms like sunrise and sunset, as mentioned, or phrases like “kick the bucket,”  a somewhat slangish euphemism for dying. Making a “bucket list” capitalizes on that idiom to mean having a list of things one wants to experience or accomplish before dying. On a side note, I was amused recently to see someone take that a step further in an article on “my bucket list for the summer,” apparently not knowing the significance of the bucket in that phrase.

A couple of Biblical idioms:

  • The land of Canaan “flowing with milk and honey.” We understand that to mean plenty, not literal rivers of milk and honey.
  • To be “stiff-necked” or to stiffen the neck indicate stubbornness, not a need to see a chiropractor.

Metaphors. A simile compares two things using the phrase “like” or “as”: “Her smile is as bright as a summer day.” A metaphor does the same thing but without “like” or “as.” In Shakespeare’s As You Like It, we have this famous metaphor: “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players.”

A few Biblical metaphors: ‘Behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves” (Song of Solomon 1:15b. “You are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13a).

Anthropomorphism attributes human characteristics to something not human. “The flower lifted it face to the sun.” “The wind roared.”

Biblical examples: “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands” (Isaiah 55:12). The Bible says that “God is a spirit” (John 4:24) and as such does not have body parts as we know them. Yet to communicate with us in ways we can understand, the Bible speaks as if He does. “ And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them” (Exodus 7:5). Psalm 17:6 says, “I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my words.” Deuteronomy 33:27 says, “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” We understand that to mean that God’s care is just as real as if He were literally holding us in his arms.

Personification is closely related to anthropomorphism, meaning to treat something abstract or inanimate as if it was human. One of Emily Dickinson’s poems personifies death: “Because I could not stop for Death,/He kindly stopped for me;/The carriage held but just ourselves/And Immortality.”

Biblical example: “Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you” (Proverbs 1:20-23).

Hyperbole exaggerates something for effect. “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.”

Biblical examples: “You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!” (Matthew 23:24). “The cities are great and fortified up to heaven” (Deuteronomy 1:28b).

Poetry uses many of these devices, but poetry itself is often phrased in a non-literal way. To quote Emily Dickinson again:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.

Biblical examples: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself” (Exodus 19:4). God didn’t actual send in giant birds, a la The Lord of the Rings, but His care of them was just as if He did. “If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me” (Psalm 139:9-10).

Parables are very short stories with a moral or religious meaning, like “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” They differ from fables in that they have human characters and are plausible, whereas fables use animals, sometimes inanimate objects or nature, and are usually obviously fanciful.

In the Bible, Jesus’s teaching abounds with parables: the prodigal son, the lost sheep, the sower, the good Samaritan, etc. But there are parables in other parts of the Bible as well, especially among the prophets, like the one Nathan told that convicted David of his sin with Bathsheba.

Symbols involve an item being used to represent something else, like a newscaster referring to the White House and meaning the government: “The White House issued a statement today…”

Revelation is full of symbols. The dragon and the beast, for instance, are not animals but evil people whose characters are represented by those beings. There has been argument over the elements of communion, or the Lord’s supper, or the Lord’s table, for years, but it makes the most sense to believe that the elements of bread and wine are symbolic rather than actually containing the body and blood of Christ. One indication of this is the reaction of the disciples as they listened. They were not above questioning and even arguing with the Lord, but no one batted an eye at His statements at the last Supper, indicating that they didn’t think He was advocating cannibalism.

When we listen to the news, read nonfiction, or hear a speech, we can easily discern these literary devices, and we don’t dismiss everything else the speaker or writer says as symbolic or untrue because they use anthropomorphism or an idiom or a metaphor. We’re able to discern from the context whether certain phrases are literal or figurative, usually without even thinking about it, and we get the message the communicator is trying to convey.

I, for one, am glad the Bible uses different literary genres of devices rather than just giving us lists of facts and truths and teachings. Many of us “get” truth in different ways – some prefer it plainspoken, some benefit from a story or illustration. Hearing the same truth in the law, in a parable, in poetry, in prophecy, in an epistle, reinforces that truth to us.

The Bible uses these devices, but the Bible is not wholly a story or parable or fable. There are some who interpret the first two chapters of Genesis or all of Genesis or even the greater part of the Old Testament as myth. But much of the OT is literal history.

The better way to read the Bible is in an ordinary way like you would any other nonfiction, taking it as meaning what the words would ordinarily mean unless the context indicates it is figurative speech. For instance, there is nothing in the Genesis 1 and 2 accounts of creation that indicate anything is meant other than normal 24 hour days. Sure, Peter says “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day,” but that doesn’t mean every time you see the word “day” in the Bible that it could possibly mean 1,000 years.The ordinary reading of this passage would indicate that creation took place in the span of a week. That’s certainly not beyond God’s power to do. Good people differ on this, and I don’t think anyone’s salvation hinges on whether they think the days in Gen. 1 and 2 are 24-hour days or eons. But I have read accounts where this is taken as mythic or symbolic that then skew other parts of the Bible to mean something quite different from what a more literal reading would indicate. Though good people can differ here and there on some of the fine points, overall a literal approach (except where obviously figurative) is the best.

And by saying that we read it in an ordinary way, I am not discounting that we need the Holy Spirit’s help to open our understanding. The Bible is a supernatural book and we need God’s help to understand it rightly. I just mean that we read it as literal unless it’s obviously figurative.

There is much more that could be said about this, but I am way past the time I allowed for this post, and it’s plenty long already.

A couple of other helpful articles are Taking the Bible Literally (though I’d disagree with him on a couple of points, like hell) and Do Faithful Christian Take the Bible Literally?

(Sharing with Inspire me Monday, Literary Musing Monday, Glimpses, Soul Survival, Tell His Story, Faith on Fire)

Laudable Linkage

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Here are more good reads discovered in the last week or so:

The Transgender Matrix: It’s Time to Choose the Red Pill, HT to Challies. From a man who had transgender surgery on why it didn’t solve his problems and facing reality. He had other issues, but those weren’t even dealt with before his psychologist approved him for surgery.

A Three-step Strategy for Fighting Sin, HT to Challies. Probably one of the most helpful articles I have seen on the subject. On the same topic from the same blog: 20 Practical Ways to Kill Sin.

5 Ways to Pray for Persecuted Saints, HT to Challies.

You Were Created for More Than Motherhood.

The Neglected Stepchild of the Bible, Ecclesiastes. There are some weird approaches to this book, and this article helps rightly divide it.

Do Christians Have to Care About Everything? HT to Challies. “You’re not Christ. You’re part of His body. And there is a difference.”

Happy Saturday!

Friday’s Fave Fives

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FFF delicate leavesIt’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

I’m a little late today – it’s been one of those mornings with a number of interruptions. I often write the bulk of my FFF post on Thursday afternoons, but that didn’t happen this time. But – we’re here now, so here are some of the favorite parts of the week!

1. Leaves changing. I’ve been saying for a couple of weeks that they had only just started to change, and here in our neighborhood, that’s still true. But we were out in a different area of the city on Sunday and saw lots of fall color. Lovely!

2. Late bloomers. My hydrangea had gotten big and bushy but hadn’t bloomed all summer – until now! Maybe because of those big spots on the leaves – any idea what those are and what to do about them?

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Even my geranium looks like it might have another round of blooms.

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3. Magazines. Like many people, I’ve gotten away from magazines with all that’s available on the Internet. But there’s still something nice about curling up on the couch with the latest edition. I received gift subscriptions for these two for my birthday, and their first issues recently arrived.

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4. Meals I didn’t cook. My daughter-in-law made dinner here last Sunday, we ate takeout from MacAlister’s Deli and a barbecue place a couple of different evenings, and I met a friend for lunch at IHOP this week.

5. A Timothy funny. Recently as he was coming up to our front door, he said, “I big now. I have hairy legs.” 🙂

Happy Friday!

Even more stray thoughts…

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I don’t usually post “rambling” posts too closely together, but I forgot some things last time. 🙂

  • On the health front: Since going off one of the medications I was put on post-afib surgery, I have not had any more major episodes lasting hours. They said it would be rough going off of it, but instead it’s been the best I’ve felt since the surgery. (Thank you, Lord!) I’ve had some little flutters lasting just a few seconds at a time – they seem to come in clusters for a bit during they day, but then nothing the rest of the day. But that’s MUCH better than 2-6 hours!

 

  • Since I was doing so well, I was hesitant to start the new medication. I read the information that comes with a prescription – something I don’t usually do because they tend to make me not want to take the medicine – and, yep, this made me not want to take it. I know they have to include everything that could possibly happen, and most of the time when I go ahead and take it, I don’t experience any of the dire potential side effects. But this, first of all, said it is usually given in the hospital under a doctor’s supervision. Yikes! Nothing was said to me about that, and I am assuming since they sent me home with it, it’s a low enough dose to be ok. But that definitely is scary. There were a few other things that make me reluctant to take it, but that was the main one. I can’t decide whether to call the doctor’s office and ask if I can avoid taking it, since I am doing so well – or whether I should just not take it and then talk about it at my next appointment. Probably the first course is the better one, but I don’t want to get into a position of him saying yes, I should take it, and then me deciding I don’t want to after all, and then having to explain that. 🙂

 

  • Things I’ve seen that make me wonder:

  • Why do they charge delivery charges if that doesn’t go to the driver? Well, this doesn’t say it doesn’t go to the driver, but that’s what I assumed. Maybe it’s like waitresses: they get paid a little but less than they would normally and the rest is made up in tips. But by the time you had a delivery charge and a tip, that’s a significant amount – and one of the reasons we don’t often have food delivered.
  • I was rummaging around for some dental floss in the back of the bathroom drawer (trying to get better about flossing) and found one that had come from the dentist’s office a while back. It had an expiration date from a year ago. Dental floss has an expiration date? I don’t know why it would. It would make sense if it had a flavoring on it – I’ve seen some with a minty taste. But this didn’t have that. I don’t think it would shred or fray in just a year’s time. My husband thinks it’s a scam to make people buy more floss. 🙂
  • A note on prescription information insert from the drugstore: “For faster refills, call 24 hours in advance.” That does not seem faster to me. 🙂

 

  • I don’t think I have shared the most recent birthday cards I have made yet. Jason had a “milestone” birthday this year, and in looking for ideas for his card, I came across several listing things that had happened during his birth year. I ended up doing this one on the computer – I told him that even though it wasn’t hand-made, it was Mom-made. 🙂

Jeremy likes foxes, and I was aiming for a design that didn’t look childish.

Jesse is an avid video gamer, so this seemed appropriate for him.

  • I mentioned last time being frustrated with complicated issues being reduced to zinging tweets and snarky memes in public forums. I’ve been thinking that we ought to bring back forensic debating in schools. Not the farces that we call presidential debates during election season. When I was in college, one of the regular commencement week activities was the championship debate, a culmination of different groups who had been debating a particular topic all through the school year, and the top two teams debated the final round before the entire school body. At the time, I am sorry to say, I found it quite boring. But now I wish more people were educated in this kind of logical thinking, giving out and responding to facts rather than conjecture, name-calling, and shouting each other down. I hope school debates are still conducted like this. I know some schools still have them, but I think more should and they should receive more emphasis.

 

  • I have also been alarmed to see more and more anti-capitalist rhetoric in recent months. Some equate capitalism with greed and oppression when it should be equated with opportunity (the little guy who pursues a big idea, the family restaurant that grows into a national chain). I lived through the Cold War and helped pray people out of Soviet prisons: believe me, you really don’t want communism. Talk about oppression. There is no perfect economic system: every one has its flaws. And because we’re sinners, there are people who are going to exploit the flaws in any system for personal advantage, so there needs to be safeguards in place. This is an area requiring study and thought, not just sound bytes.

 

  • Our family is currently going through some major changes. My husband was asked to take on a different position at his company. He’s had to turn down a few of those requests before because they involved travel, and he felt he couldn’t be away more than a couple of days at a time due to his mom being in our home. She tends to get a little more disoriented when he’s away for very long. But that’s also out of consideration for me, so I don’t have the bulk of her care, and I appreciate that. This position will not require that kind of travel, so that helps. It’s an area he has been partially involved in for years, so I hope being in it full time is enjoyable for him. Right now they are still in a transition phase.

 

  • Another big change is that we have decided to leave the church we have attended for seven years and look for a new church home. There really isn’t any one major issue, but my husband has been unhappy there for some time. We talked it out and decided it was time to move on. We didn’t visit around various churches when we first came here because we knew the pastor at this church (who has since passed away) and knew from the start that’s where we would attend. So we’re going through that visiting-around process now, which is always…interesting. This is the first time we have ever left a church for reasons other than moving away, so it feels a little awkward in many respects. I always feel a little homeless without a church family, but I do have a sense of excitement to see what the Lord has in store for us.

And that wraps it up for today!

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Thoughts on the MacArthur ESV Study Bible

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MacArthur ESVI mentioned in my last Nightstand post that I had finished reading the ESV version of the MacArthur Study Bible but wasn’t planning to review it. How do you review a Bible, after all? But one friend said she’d like to hear my thoughts about it. So here goes.

I’d like to discuss it in two parts: the ESV version and then MacArthur’s notes.

The subject of Bible versions can be touchy and whole books have been written on them – I can’t possibly go into everything concerning them here. The best book I know of on the subject is From the Mind of God to the Mind of Man: A Layman’s Guide to How We Got Our Bible. A former pastor, someone whose exposition I trust more than anyone else I’ve heard or read, is one of the contributors, I knew one of the others in college, and I have heard a couple of others speak. That doesn’t mean these men are infallible, of course, but I have heard and read enough of them to generally trust them, and I have read enough elsewhere that supports what they say. Probably the biggest issue for those who are “King James Only” is the manuscripts that the different version or translated from. I think this book handles that ably, and I have read and heard enough to feel assured about reading version like the NASB (New American Standard Bible) and ESV (English Standard Version), as well, as, of course, the KJV and NKJV. (If you differ with me on this, that’s your prerogative, but I really don’t want to get into any arguments about it here. I have known some KJO people to think less of other Christians who use different versions, or even to break fellowship with people who don’t use the KJV. I think that is definitely going way too far.)

If you’ve read much about Bible translations, you’ve probably come across different theories or processes. No translation of anything from one language to another is going to be word for word exactly, literally, like the original. There are differences in syntax: for instance, Spanish puts the adjective after the noun while English usually puts it before: Casa Blanca for White House. One language may not have the exact word equivalent for every word in another language, and so on. If you’ve ever looked at a Greek interlinear New Testament, which has the Greek words and then the corresponding English above or below them, you’ll get some idea of the difficulty. (Take a look at Luke 2, for example.) Translators fall into two camps: those who try to translate word for word, staying as close as possible to the original while making ti understandable in another language, and those who translate thought for thought. The thought-for-thought translations are usually the most readable, but the least accurate.

Forgive the excess background material, but I felt I needed to go into that to explain that I think the ESV is probably my favorite translation. The KJV will always hold a special place in my heart, and I tend to think in King James, after having used it and read it for over 40 years now. But the ESV seems to me to best combine accuracy and readability.

Now on to MacArthur’s notes. I think this is the first time I have ever read through a study Bible, and I found the bulk of the notes very helpful. At the beginning are sections called Introduction to the Bible (kind of an overview), How We Got the Bible, How to Study the Bible, a preface to the ESV explaining the philosophy and style that went into this transition, an explanation of the features, especially the cross references and footnotes. Before each of the Testaments are introductions, chronologies, overviews, etc., and even the intertestamental period gets a few pages. Each book is introduced with a few pages discussing authorship, date, background and setting, historical and theological themes, interpretive challenges, and an outline. I found this especially very helpful to read before beginning a particular book. Throughout the book are applicable maps, charts, and diagrams and footnotes on most of the verses. At the end are appendices on The Character of Genuine Saving Faith, an Overview of Theology, a plan to read through the Bible in a year, an index to key Bible doctrines, Monies, Weights, and Measures, and a concordance.

The book is too bulky to carry to church, almost a little hard to handle while sitting on the couch, where I usually do my Bible reading. The print in the notes especially is very small, but if it was any larger, more pages and therefore more bulk would be required. So the size of both the print and the book itself are probably the best compromise.

I did not know much about MacArthur before reading this. I had found him to be a little terse in what things of his I had read, and that seems to come through here, but then again, that’s the nature of the verse-by-verse notes. Sometimes something I had a question about wasn’t addressed, or at least not to the extent I’d like, but I had to remind myself that this wasn’t a commentary, and the notes needed to be limited to a degree.

At first it was a little distracting to read a verse and then read the corresponding notes, but after a while it didn’t seem to be. It did help to reread or at least skim through the chapter again after reading it verse then note then verse, to put it all together.

I have multitudes of places marked, much more than I can share here, but here are a couple:

It helped to realize that Chronicles was not just a repeat of Kings, but was written when the Jews were returning to Israel after 70 years of exile to a land far different from their “glory years” of David and Solomon.

The chronicler’s selective genealogy and history of Israel…was intended to remind the Jews of God’s promises and intentions about: 1) the land; 2) the nation; 3) the Davidic king; 4) the Levitical priests; 5) the temple; and 6) true worship, none of which had been abrogated because of the Babylonian captivity. All of this was to remind them of their spiritual heritage during the difficult times they faced, and to encourage them to be faithful to God (p. 557).

Of Exodus 20:5-6, which speaks of God “visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,” MacArthur says:

Moses had made it clear that children were not punished for the sins of their parents (Deut. 24:16; see Ezek. 18:19-32), but children would feel the impact of breaches of God’s law by their parents’ generation as a natural consequence of its disobedience, its hatred of God. Children reared in such an environment would imbibe and then practice similar idolatry, thus themselves expressing hateful disobedience. The difference in consequence served as both a warning and a motivation. The effect of a disobedient generation was to plant wickedness so deeply that it took several generations to reverse (p. 123).

Re the imprecatory prayers in the psalms: “As God’s mediatorial representative on earth, David prayed for judgement on his enemies, since these enemies were not only hurting him, but were primarily hurting God’s people. Ultimately, they challenged the King of kings, the God of Israel” (p. 734).

There were a few places I disagree with him, some minor, such as whether David was wrong to mourn Absalom in the way he did (MacArthur thought it was “melancholy,” “weak, ” and “unwarranted zeal for such a worthless son”; I thought it was perfectly natural to deeply grieve not only his loss of life but his state at the end of it). Some differences were major, particularity a Calvinistic bent which I had not known he possessed.

Calvinism is another issue too large for one blog post. I agree with parts of it but seriously disagree with other parts. But for just one example, one of the ares where I most disagree with it is with the “I” in the TULIP” acronym: Irresistible Grace, the idea that if God calls you to salvation, you can’t say no. One passage that particularly counteracts that idea, in my opinion, is where Jesus laments, ““O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34). That sounds pretty much like they resisted His overtures and attempts to gather them to Himself. Here’s what MacArthur says of the Matthew passage:

God is utterly sovereign and therefore fully capable of bringing to pass whatever he desires (cf. Isa.46:10)–including the salvation of whomever he chooses (Eph. 1:4-5). Yet, he sometimes expresses a wish for that which he does not sovereignly bring to pass (cf. Gen. 6:6; Deut. 5:29; Ps. 81:13; Isa. 48:18). Such expressions in no way suggest a limitation on the sovereignty of God or imply any actual change in him (Num. 23:19). But these statements do reveal essential aspects of the divine character: he is full of compassion, sincerely good to all,  desirous of good, not evil–and therefore not delighting in the destruction of the wicked… (p. 1403).

This passage makes sense to me if Christ is lamenting that people turned away from His attempts to draw them, because He knows what it will ultimately mean for them (if you turn away from Him, there is nowhere else to go. If you won’t accept his grace, there’s nothing left but wrath). But it doesn’t make sense if He is saying, “I didn’t elect you, and you don’t have any chance, but I feel bad about that.”

The Bible itself is inspired by God: no man’s notes and commentaries are. But someone else’s intense study of the Word of God can be greatly beneficial to us in our own study, and, though I disagreed with MacArthur in a few places here and there, I was greatly helped by the majority of his notes.

(Sharing with Literary Musing Monday,
Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books,
Carole’s Books You Loved)

 

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